The criteria for choosing the type of humidifier to be used depends on the following parameters:
the degree of purity required for the steam or nebulised water produced, according to the installation or the application;
the required production of steam or nebulised water;
the consumption (kilowatt/hours consumed for each kg/h of steam/water);
the operating costs;
the cost of the installation.
1. Immersed electrode humidifiers (humiSteam), electric heater humidifiers (heaterSteam) and gas-fired humidifiers (gaSteam), all produce steam that has the advantage of purity and sterility. The pressurised water atomiser (humiFog), the air/water atomiser (MC) and the spinning disk humidifiers (HumiDisk) all produce nebulised water that has the same characteristics as the supply water.
2. The hourly production of steam or nebulised water depends on the system chosen. The spinning disk humidifiers (HumiDisk) produce 5 kg/h of nebulised water.
The immersed electrode humidifiers (humiSteam) feature models up to 126 kg/h. The electric heater humidifiers (heaterSteam) reach 65 kg/h; the gas-fired humidifiers (gaSteam) have a production of 40 kg/h, with 90 and 160kg/h models envisaged in the future. The atomised water humidification systems, in the air/ water version (MC) and in the water-only version (humiFog) start respectively from 60 and 40 kg/h and over.
3. Energy consumption of the humidification system: kW/h per kg/h of steam/nebulised water produced. The most economical system in terms of consumption is the pressurised water atomiser (humiFog), at 4 watts per kg/h of nebulised water; this is followed by the spinning disk humidifiers (HumiDisk), at 48 watts per kg/h and, finally, the air/water atomiser (MC) at 116 watts per kg/h. The immersed electrode humidifiers (humiSteam), the electric heater humidifiers (heaterSteam) and the gas-fired humidifiers (gaSteam) have a consumption of 750 W per kg/h.
4. Operating costs: considering the operating costs of the immersed electrode humidifiers (humiSteam) and the electric heater humidifiers (heaterSteam) to be 100, the operating costs of the pressurised water atomiser (humiFog) are equal to 0.6%, the spinning disk humidifiers (HumiDisk) 6.6 %, the atomised water humidification system (MC) 16 %; and finally, the operating costs of the gas-fired humidifiers (gaSteam) are equal to 30%.
5. The cost of the installation depends on the type of humidification system and the size of the installation.
